The next 10 days!
Lyrid meteor shower: All you need to know
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-lyrid-meteor-shower
Thursday, April 16, 2020
National Poetry Month: Poem #12
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Beware of darkness in the material world by Buffalo Fawn
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George Harrison - Beware Of Darkness - Acoustic Version
"Beware Of Darkness"
Watch out now, take care
Beware of falling swingers Dropping all around you The pain that often mingles In your fingertips Beware of darkness Watch out now, take care Beware of the thoughts that linger Winding up inside your head The hopelessness around you In the dead of night Beware of sadness It can hit you It can hurt you Make you sore and what is more That is not what you are here for Watch out now, take care Beware of soft shoe shufflers Dancing down the sidewalks As each unconscious sufferer Wanders aimlessly Beware of Maya Watch out now, take care Beware of greedy leaders They take you where you should not go While Weeping Atlas Cedars They just want to grow, grow and grow Beware of darkness (beware of darkness) |
Five Poems to Soothe Kids' Toxic Stress
Grandpa was really sick now, thin like a skeleton. The last thing I remember him saying was, "Did you bring the little dog?"
We hadn't brought Kip because Grandpa was in a hospice, but the pain-killers made him think he saw the chihuahua at the foot of the bed. Kip had been a faithful friend stationed at the foot of his bed the previous five years at home when Grandpa was bedridden due to cancer.
We hadn't brought Kip because Grandpa was in a hospice, but the pain-killers made him think he saw the chihuahua at the foot of the bed. Kip had been a faithful friend stationed at the foot of his bed the previous five years at home when Grandpa was bedridden due to cancer.
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| Melanie, Grandpa and Kip 1962 |
I recall watching baseball on television with him. He was a San Francisco Giants' fan. I realized last year that the reason I knew so much about the Giants was that I watched the World Series (1962) with him (the last baseball season Grandpa was at home) before he passed away the following spring. His going left a dark hole in the family.
Literature can ease the stress of a child's serious loss, so the effect doesn't advance to toxic, chronic stress. Literature draws the isolating pain out in the open. We aren't alone in our experiences; universal themes speak to our human condition, too. For me, I somehow found "The Rainy Day," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, probably in my parochial school library. It soothed my heartbroken, prepubescent soul with lines like "Behind the clouds is the sun still shining" and "Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary." Henry knew how I felt.
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/longfellow/12207
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/longfellow/12207
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| #16 Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All by Ian Lantz |
Kids can be demeaned, betrayed, bullied. How can a kid handle that? Students, usually middle-schoolers, respond with shock at the opening lines of'
I'm nobody! Who are you?Are you nobody, too?
Someone else knows how it feels? I'm not the only one going through this? When you're born into the caste of the rejects--what's a kid to do? Like Emily Dickinson suggests, reject the insult-- it's the conformists who are to be ridiculed. To read how the totally unique Emily suggests we do this, go to this link and see all the poem. http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/448/
Every year I have taught in Southern California, I have students that have had traumatic losses due to violence close to them. Even what we consider to be a cliche can comfort them. Famous sayings and poems aren't famous to kids--its new material. The well known saying from Tennyson's "In Memoriam" is still valid:
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
For the rest of the poem,
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174603. I always liked the reference to not wanting to be a 'linnet' (caged bird) that was never free to experience 'the summer wood.' Life has joys and sorrows, and we fly to the first despite the eventual descent into the second.
Our people, our family can uphold us. Langston Hughes' "Mother to Son" speaks a mom's heart.http://allpoetry.com/Mother-To-Son Life's exertion, exhaustion, and unexpected reversals require relentless effort to overcome, often too much for the young person by himself. Whether its a mother to son, grandpa to granddaughter, teacher to student---there are grown-ups reaching out to you. Someone cares. We can navigate you, one step at a time, past the hidden trip-ups. We know where they are-- we've tripped over a few--but let's get up and keep on climbing.
The comfort from the community; poets from even two hundred years ago can be a member of that community. A poem can embrace the sad, frightened, lonely soul of a child.
I thought of Grandpa when his Giants won the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. I couldn't share it with him, except in my heart. That's a comforting thought. I learned that from poetry.
I thought of Grandpa when his Giants won the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. I couldn't share it with him, except in my heart. That's a comforting thought. I learned that from poetry.
What Does Poetry Do?
Poetry brings us immediately to the top of Bloom's Taxonomy of higher level thinking, triggering the growth of synapses in our brains as we struggle for personal meaning in the verse. Poetry satisfies our daily emotional nutritional requirements for serendipity, musical language, inspiration, mental challenge, comfort, schmaltz, and frequently, humor. Poetry is packaged in mystery, mathematical meter, and personal validation--equity in our own interpretations.
Melanie Link Taylor, M.A.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Educational Links 4/16/2020
The Neuroscience Behind Productive Struggle
Millions of public school students will suffer from school closures, education leaders have concluded
Accommodations, Modifications, and Intervention at a Distance
“STUDENTS FEAR LACK OF INTERNET ACCESS COULD LEAVE THEM BEHIND WITH ONLINE LEARNING”
American schools may look radically different as they reopen
ALL MY BAM RADIO SHOWS – LINKED WITH DESCRIPTIONS
Teaching Human Rights: Resources, Benefits, And Guiding Questions
Human rights education builds awareness and understanding of the basic rights shared by all people: These principles are outlined in documentation from the United Nations and its affiliated associations. There are three distinct approaches to human rights education: education about, through, and for human rights.
Home Learning: PAES Lab (Vocational) 1
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| This is the PAES Lab at Silverado High School, Victorville, CAL., where I teach. It is a really, really cool resource. |
The PAES lab is a career training program provided to students in our Life Skills program. PAES® is Training in: Basic Generalizable Vocational and Life Skills that relate to most careers. Skills needed for vocational training, placement and independent living.
But these videos are helpful for everyone. TOOLS!
Here are several videos explaining how to use tools in the PAES Lab.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Educational Links 4/15/20
How to Make PBL a Reality in a Distance Learning Environment
Teachers, If You're Not OK Right Now, You're Not Alone
Top 5 Parent-Teacher Communication Apps For Remote Learning
How Music Has Opened Doors for My Autistic Daughter
“FOUR WAYS TO HELP STUDENTS FEEL INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED TO DO DISTANCE LEARNING”
How to Avoid Teacher Burnout | Tips from Veteran Teachers
3 Tips for Humanizing Digital Pedagogy
An elementary teacher who has worked for an edtech start-up argues that it’s important now—with teachers and students working separately—to promote reflection and social connection as tools for learning.
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